The Pain Continues

This epididymitis continues on my right side. I've taken a couple of weeks worth of ibuprofen, mixed with some tylenol which has helped the day to day pain. However, I was hoping the swelling would go down a little bit more than it has.

Surprisingly, my wife and I have been intimate a few times since this began. I wasn't sure what would happen if I had an E.J. But, it doesn't appear to have made it worse and perhaps, it has helped a little bit (I'm not really sure, because of all the OTC pain meds I'm taking).

The real problem is when I have a day at work that involves a lot of sitting. Sitting is just a killer for me right now. Then again, so is standing for long periods of time (like when I umpired my son's 2-hr baseball game yesterday).

The pain in my scrotum definitely puts a damper on just about everything in my day. But I think I can tolerate it as long as it doesn't get any worse. Now the likelihood of it not getting worse is pretty slim, I know. But that is my approach now. If other people can live with chronic pain, then so can I. I don't like it, but what are you going to do...it's not like I have a lot of options at this point. More surgery is out of the question and I'm not taking anymore antibiotics or steroids. That just leaves prayer and living with it. Thankfully, Jesus gives me the strength and patience to do that. Again, I don't like this option, but as I said before, my options are pretty few and far between. At least this option has paid dividends and is more reliable than anything I have tried before.

So faith in a loving God and savior, along with my eternal perspective is all I have left. That should be enough for anyone.

Time with the Wife

A lot of people wonder what it must be like to have this PVPS and then at the same time, be intimate with the wife. There are a lot of guys who have pain when they are in the act of intimacy. I haven't experienced that yet (thank the Lord). I say 'yet', because pains associated with PVPS can come out of nowhere and without warning.

Last night though, I probably had the closest thing to what I just described. When we were done, I began to have this intense sharp pain in the posterior area of my scrotum. It felt like someone sticking a pin in the back of my scrotal sack. It was very peculiar and not at all what I would like to experience again.

The pain level would probably rate a 3 on a 1-10 pain scale. It passed after about 10 minutes. It almost felt like I needed some scrotal support, as gravity did not make it feel any better.

Another point to make about intimacy with your wife is this, ejaculations do seem to help with the inguinal pain symptoms. I think it's because the prostate gets to release and shrink a little in size, and if there is any build up of sperm, it gets a chance to release as well. I have no science on this, just a theory for how it does seem to help with pain. But I know I can't push this too much. For example, if we are very active in a short period of time, I will actually experience more inguinal pain. So there is a certain degree of pacing that I need to practice in this area. It seems a steady pace works better for me (from a pain standpoint). Of course, other guys may and are probably different.

Something Popping Into My Scrotum

With my recent streak of pain, I've had to look frantically for more coping mechanisms. This is what I've done in the last couple of days to help with the pain.

1. I no longer sleep on my right side.
2. I no longer sit with my left leg in the "Indian-style" of sitting. Any stretching of the left groin makes something kind of pop out into my scrotum and the pain is tremendous.
3. I have begun walking around the neighborhood. The treadmil seems like too much at this point.
4. I don' stand for very long. Standing makes something pop out into my left scrotum also. Not sure what this is, but again, it hurts like crazy.
5. Stay on computer for only 10 minutes at a time. Even if I'm not feeling any pain. Just kind of get on and then get off.
6. Wear athletic supporter 24/7, yes - even to bed

That's what I've got so far in the last two days. Again, I'm not sure what is going on down there and why this thing keeps popping into my scrotum. But when the testicles get pushed forward, it hurts. When the boys get squished, that same thing hurts. This is a new development for sure.

Well, can't stay on the computer any longer. Got to start moving. Back with more later.

Cold Weather Effect on Scrotal Pain

I always wondered if the colder weather of the pacific NW would have an impact on my scrotal pain. Well, last night I started to have a crushing/racking pain on my left side. Now, I'm not sure if the cold weather was the cause of this phenomena or perhaps the sitting I did prior to bed time. But my sitting tolerance has been somewhat improved lately. Although, I still hate to put myself at risk by sitting for long periods of time on my computer chair. But I digress...anyway, like I said, I was having this pain last night prior to going to bed. It was very painful, maybe a 3-4 on a 1-10 pain scale.

I checked out the boys in the bathroom before crawling into bed and they were pulled up extremely high. That is what got me wondering if there is a correlation between them being so high and the racking pain. Then I got under the warm covers and started to feel better after about 5 minutes. Now maybe it was because I was laying down or maybe it was because the warmth of the collected body heat under the covers. I'm not sure.

As usual, that's the thing with post vasectomy pain or reversal pain, you're just not sure what's causing the pain. Could be the cold, could be the sitting. Could also be the fact I haven't walked in several days. Maybe it was just a cycle thing and the pain was going to be there regardless of anything else. But I can't really complain. The pain has been so much better lately.

Now when I get sensations and pain, I'm disappointed because in the back of my mind I keep allowing myself to think the pain will be gone forever. I know those are dangerous thoughts because when I do have pain, I become disappointed. That means I'm putting myself on that emotional roller-coaster again - which isn't very fun. So, I'm trying to keep perspective and not let myself dream too much. Remaining subdued is the best approach. Don't get too high or too low...stay on an even keel.

Anyway, this morning, all seems okay. Just the normal awareness that my scrotum is down there. King of like an upset stomach. It may not necessarily hurt, but you can feel your stomach. Well, that's how my scrotum is most days, no real pain per se', but I know it's there.

Why You Should Not Have a Vasectomy

My left testicle is still reminding me that it's there. Yesterday, I picked up a pumpkin to put it in the mini-van. Three minutes later, I had that vice grip feeling on the left side. I can't believe that by picking up a 15 pound pumpkin, my boys would hurt. But that's the nature of vasectomy pain syndrome. It doesn't seem to take much to aggravate them.

My wife and I were intimate again last Saturday night. I didn't have any pain or discomfort while we were together, thank the Lord. I've heard other people say they have extreme pain with ejaculation. I think I'd turn into a monk if that were the case. My right side still has some referred pain, into my right abdomen, over by my side. I'm also having that spasm feeling behind my right testicle. I sometimes call it a burning or paper cut sensation. That seems to show up after ejaculations. Like the vas deference is refilling with sperm and it doesn't like it. Hard to explain, but it's there none-the-less.

It seems like ejaculations make my right side have this referred pain more often too. At least that's the case this time around. Interestingly, my left side has a horizontal line impression in it. It's weird. A perfectly straight line, completely horizontal. I'll have to ask the guys on the forum about that. You know, I saw the line before, but hadn't noticed how perfectly horizontal it was, nor how pronounced it was. I just thought it was a weird looking wrinkle in my scrotum.

So I guess that's it for today. I'm now 10 months and 1 week post op from my reversal and if I measure my outcome in terms of months, I'd say I am getting better with each month. But I also have more coping mechanisms than before this journey started. I just keep praying that God will continue to be with me on this journey and that I'll have a great outcome. I also keep praying that God will use my situation to help men make the decision to NOT have a vasectomy. There really is a lot of wisdom that many doctors have, which is God designed us to be a certain way and when we start having surgies to mess with that design, we're asking for trouble.

Plowing the Field

Day 3 of walking and eating right is going well. I'm having a lot of nerve pain though. I think that might be related to the stretching I've been doing after my walk. It seems like stretching makes the nerve pain worse. I may skip that step today. But, I'm going to keep walking even if I continue to have pain. That's a hard thing for me to say and I guess, my resolve on this matter will be tested at some point.

Besides having post vasectomy pain syndrome, I also have cardiomyopathy - or at least I did. My heart seems to have rebounded nicely, according to my cardiologist. But with my extreme inactivity related to my PVPS, I've noticed that I get short of breath with very little activity. This makes me think that I've got to get my heart back in shape. Especially, if we want to be the outdoors family - hiking, camping, fishing, etc.

I spoke to my wife last night about what I've been going through: regarding my pain. I try not to bum her out too much with this kind of update, but it's important for her to know what I'm going through. So we usually have an update session once every month. She was very supportive of my intention to walk and become active again. She feels, as do I, that the nerve pain may be a barrier to my activity for a while, but it may get better over time. The more I walk, perhaps the less pain I'll have. The theory is the pain fibers will be freed up with the walking motion instead of being entrapped from all my sitting around.

The stretching is a key piece for me, because I love to stretch out. Oddly, it is my favorite part of exercise. I may try to perform the stretches that I know don't cause any pain at first. Then slowly add gentle stretches which incorporate my core/abdominal/lower back/groin muscle groups.

As far as my pain goes, I had a lot last night. I woke up a couple of times. This morning has been okay. The occassional nerve like groin pain and slight feeling of discomfort where my scrotum attaches to my body. I pray today will be a good day for me and all others who suffer from this dreaded syndrome.

Tough Couple of Days

So today I woke up in tremendous pain in my scrotum. I've had intermittent nerve pain on my left and right inguinal sides. I feel like my scrotum is about to explode and there's nothing that can be done about it. I think I'm just going to have to handle up on my own business because there is a real part of me that feels this is all congestion related symptoms.

I'd like to be patient and wait for my wife, and let that area of things progress naturally. But in talking with her, it doesn't look like she's much in the mood these days - as she's stressed out because she started a new job that is not entirely in her specialty or rather, comfort zone. So as much as I'd like to be with her or have her help me out, I don't think it's going to happen for another couple of weeks. So in the shower I go, I suppose.

Today, the tylenol helped quite a bit. It brought the pain down to tolerable levels. Thank God, the tylenol works for me. Some guys have to take major prescription kind of drugs just to get through. So I'll take that blessing any day of the week. I also used a heating pad, as I haven't been able to take hot baths like I did before. This rental house has a very small water heater, so the water doesn't get hot or deep enough to do the job. I did get some relief from the heating pad though. I was surprised. That or maybe the tylenol had kicked in. One or the other.

Anyway, this is the first I've sat down - which has probably also helped. I hope to have a good night's sleep with no straining. Tomorrow will be a new day and I pray it will be a good one...for us all. God Bless.

Looking for Normal After Vasectomy Reversal

Let's see now, I had my reversal back on Dec. 23rd of 2010. I am now 7 months post-op and I still don't quite know what my life will be like moving forward. There are still lots of sensations in my scrotum. Everything from burning to prickly pains. In a way, it feels like my reconnected Vas deference is still getting pulled and tugged, but holding on by a thread. That is a disconcerting feeling for sure. Especially after someone in the support group had a failed reversal 12 months after the surgery.

I wonder if mine will stay intact and permanent? Perhaps it will fail also. Will I get the painful, enlarged epididymitis again? Or, will the reversal work for me and my vas will stay patent forever? I surely hope the latter is what happens. Nevertheless, despite the unusual sensations in my scrotum and painful nerve feelings in my inguinal regions, I am trying to get back to normal.

As I said last time, battling this syndrome on a day to day basis can be exhausting. So I think I'll try to win the war instead. You know, take a more long term view of this thing rather than a day to day view. Too many ups and downs when you examine it under a microscope. I guess I'm finally getting to the point that a lot of chronic pain sufferers get to, you learn to just live with what you got. I'm still hopeful that it'll get better as time proceeds but I've got to start living life again. Time to be a full time husband and dad again. It won't be easy, and I'll probably fail my family from time to time. But I need to get back on the proverbial horse and start riding again.

With that in mind, I'll have to say that July has been my best month by far since my reversal. More scrotum sensations, but less nerve pain, despite my trip across country in the moving truck. But hey, as my buddy from church reminded me yesterday, I made the trip and I'm still here. I survived. He said I can hang my hat on that little fact and build from it. I guess he's right. So I'd like to give a shout out to Johnny V. who has helped me tremendously. He's taught me how to cope and how to look at the problem in a different manner. God Bless Johnny V.!!!!

Until the next installment...

Exhausted From Never-Ending Stimulation

I've struggled to put into words what having PVPS is like. Sure, the pain is terrible. Nobody told me pain or epididymitis was a potential side-effect of having the vasectomy in the first place. All that is true, but I am amazed at how exhausting it is to have constant stimulation in my groin. If it's not a tingling, it's a prickly feeling. If it's not sharp pain, it's a dull ache. It's in the inguinal area, it's at the base of the scrotum, it's on the left, it's on the right.

I'm just exhausted from the constant barage of stimulation. The last day has been a prickly feeling at the base of my scrotum, in the perianal region. If I sit for longer than 15 minutes, I get nerve pain. It's just frustrating.

This morning I woke up needing to stretch a lot. Whenever that happens, I know I'm going to have some kind of nerve pain. It's still early, so we'll see what happens.